Review: Celer – Memory Repetitions

Will Long, also known as Celer, has been creating ambient music since 2006.  His journeys around the world (and current residency in Japan) have certainly shaped his art.  The collections of sounds and moods on his newest 5-CD album, Memory Repetitions, could be played anywhere from a meditation retreat to a busy international airport.

The album consists of five tracks, the shortest of which is twenty-eight minutes and thirty-one seconds.  This isn’t an album for house parties or your high-intensity cardio playlist.  It’s an album of meditations, calming sounds, and mood-altering music.  It’s difficult to describe, but one you’ll enjoy on your headphones as you stroll along the river or when you need to slow down the world outside your front door or even in your living room.

There are no lyrics.  It doesn’t need them.  It’s not an album that tells you what to think or an album that pushes an agenda.  It lets your mind wander or stop, depending on what’s happening around you at the time. 

Keep your mind open.

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Rewind Review: Naked Raygun – All Rise (1985)

I was 14 when Chicago punk legends Naked Raygun released their classic album All Rise. It would be another two years before I was able to drive a beat-up station wagon that formerly belonged to my Uncle Tony to a punk rock club about 45 minutes from my house and there become aware of Naked Raygun and their cult status.

It’s easy to figure out how they rose so fast in the mid-1980’s punk scene. All Rise‘s opener, “Home of the Brave,” is an instant anthem for the Reagan era. Pierre Kezdy‘s bass on “Dog at Large” is heavy enough for a metal band. “Knock Me Down” begins with a subtle start, but soon roars to life with frantic drums by Eric Spicer and Jeff Pezzati‘s snotty lyrics about a girl he can’t shake after she’s dumped him for good. One can’t help but wonder if “Mr. Gridlock” refers to President Regan, Chicago mayor Harold Washington, or someone else. The song has a deadly swagger to it, as if it’s looking for a fight. John Haggerty‘s guitar sounds like a tuned chainsaw on it. “The Strip” moves back and forth between chugging punks riffs and Husker Du-like jams as Naked Raygun pay homage to a seedy hotel-bar. “I Remember” has some of Spicer’s wildest drumming on the album.

Pezzati’s vocals on “Those Who Move” (about speaking truth to power and freedom of information, among other things) are urgent and still relevant in 2018. Kezdy’s bass on “The Envelope” certainly pushes the envelope of the studio amps because it nearly knocks you to the floor right out of the gate. Not to be outdone, Haggerty shreds on “Backlash Jack.” As soon as “Peacemaker” starts, you get the feeling that it’s not going to be all that peaceful. It isn’t. It’s heavy, squealing, and even a bit terrifying. The album ends with “New Dreams,” a punk anthem that sounds as fresh, raw, and vital today as it did in 1985.

All Rise is classic working class punk rock by four lads who deserve to be in the same conversations that bring up Fugazi, Bad Religion, DRI, the Dead Kennedys, and other legendary punk groups.

Keep your mind open.

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DJ set list for December 24, 2018

Thanks to all who tuned in for my all-holiday music Christmas Eve show. Thanks also to my nephew, Cody (“C-Hav”) and his wife, Sarah, co-hosting. Here’s the playlist from the show.

  1. Burl Ives – Holly Jolly Christmas
  2. Vince Guaraldi – Greensleeves
  3. Yumi Zouma – December
  4. Earth, Wind, and Fire – December (requested)
  5. Apollo 400 – Stay Frosty
  6. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Cold Wind
  7. Jeff the Brotherhood – Hypnotic Winter
  8. TV on the Radio – Winter
  9. Pixies – Winterlong
  10. Bebel Gilberto – Winter
  11. Glass Candy – Warm in the Winter
  12. AFI – Love Like Winter
  13. Gary Numan and Tubeway Army – Ice
  14. Gold Panda – Snow & Taxis
  15. Devo – Snowball
  16. Frank Zappa – Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow
  17. The Smithereens – Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
  18. Lemi Kilmister – Run Run Rudolph (requested)
  19. Bad Religion – O Come O Come Emmanuel
  20. Gary Wilson – A Christmas Tree for Two
  21. Fujiya and Miyagi – Tinsel and Glitter
  22. Sugar – Gift
  23. Mudhoney – This Gift (live)
  24. Fountains of Wayne – I Want an Alien for Christmas
  25. New Bomb Turks – Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
  26. Run-DMC – Christmas in Hollis (requested)
  27. Louis Armstrong – Christmas in New Orleans
  28. The Who – Christmas (requested)
  29. Southern Culture on the Skids – Merry Christmas Baby
  30. The Dirtbombs – My Last Christmas
  31. Morphine – Sexy Christmas Baby Mine (live)

I’ll be back on air at midnight EST on June 7th and playing a “Best of 2018” show. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Keep your mind open.

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Oakland, California’s Burger Boogaloo music festival announces a holiday ticket sale for their 10th anniversary.

Photo Credit: Wesley Powell

“Burger Boogaloo is the perfect cult gathering of young and old music rebels who hate everybody in the world except each other. Being asked to host this lunatic festival for the fifth year in a row makes me feel all warm and scuzzy inside” – John Waters

Ho Ho Holy sh*t, Burger Boogaloo is announcing its 10th anniversary with a holiday ticket sale! It’s a miracle!

Burger Boogaloo will return to Oakland’s Mosswood Park in 2019 on Saturday, July 6th and Sunday, July 7th for a foot stompin’, ear throbbin’ extravaganza celebrating 10 years of filth. If that wasn’t enough, the one-and-only John Waters will return as host to blow out the candles and make all our birthday wishes come true! To pregame the celebration, we’re selling a limited supply of discounted tickets with service fees that are comped by Burger Boogaloo.

The Boogaloo crew has also partnered with Homeless Action Center to help those who call Mosswood Park their home year-round. The Homeless Action Center (HAC) provides no-cost, barrier-free, culturally competent legal representation that makes it possible for people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless to navigate the maze of social programs offering pathways to a better life. You can help make the holidays a bit brighter for the less fortunate by donating when you purchase tickets here.

HOLIDAY SPECIAL TICKET PRICES GA WEEKEND PASS – $99 VIP WEEKEND PASS – $149 STANDARD TICKET PRICES GA WEEKEND PASS – $129 VIP WEEKEND PASS – $199

LEARN MORE ABOUT HOMELESS ACTION CENTER

Keep your mind open.

[Boogie over to the subscription box and subscribe while you’re here.]

Dayluta Means Kindness releases their version of “Oh Come, Oh Come, Emmanuel” in time for the holidays.

Following last year’s cover of “O Holy Night,” Texas space-psych rockers Dayluta Means Kindness have released their version of “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” for 2018.  It’s an instrumental jam that keeps the core of the song and sends it into orbit.  It’s only a buck to download it, so drop them some change while you’re in the Christmas spirit.

Keep your mind open.

[Drop your e-mail address in the subscription box while you’re at it.]

Levitation Austin Music Festival moves from spring to fall for 2019.

Austin’s annual Levitation Music Festival announced that it will now be held in early November 2019 for the foreseeable future.  The festival plans to make special announcements about 2019 festival early next year, so keep your eyes open.  I can’t help but wonder if the temple image below is actually a secret message that Devo will be one of the headliners next year.

Keep your mind open.

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The KVB announces U.S. tour dates for 2019.

British synthwave duo The KVB have announced several dates for a U.S. spring 2019 tour to promote their upcoming album Only Now Forever.  Don’t miss this tour if you love vintage synths, electronic beats, and having your perception altered.

Keep your mind open.

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DJ set list for December 17, 2018

Thanks to all who tuned in for my first WSND show of Winter 2018.  It was nice to return to the studio and find some new music I hadn’t heard yet this year.

Here’s my set list from the witching hour, most of which is also on the 7th Level Music YouTube channel as a playlist.

  1. Spesh – Teflon
  2. Tanukichan – Lazy Love
  3. Night Beats – Ain’t a Ghost
  4. The Dirtbombs – I’m Qualified to Satisfy You
  5. Necromancy radio ad
  6. The Cramps – Like a Bad Girl Should
  7. Big Bliss – Constants
  8. Alien radio ad
  9. The Raveonettes – Dirty Eyes (Sex Don’t Sell)
  10. Vintage 1960’s Tom McCan’s shoes radio ad
  11. The KVB – Above us
  12. Jon Hopkins – Singularity
  13. Melkbelly – Cawthra
  14. TV on the Radio – Wolf Like Me (live)
  15. Fucked Up – Raise Your Voice Joyce
  16. Ebony, Ivory, and Jade radio ad
  17. Public Image Ltd. – Fishing
  18. Depeche Mode – Route 66
  19. E.L.O. – Fire on High
  20. E.L.O. – Tightrope
  21. Space Raiders radio ad
  22. E.L.O. – Shine a Little Love
  23. Terrestre – Tepache Jam
  24. Underworld – Glam Bucket
  25. Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin – Profondo Rosso
  26. Encounter with the Unknown radio ad
  27. Kula Shaker – Moonshine
  28. Soul Coughing – Rolling
  29. Gordon Lightfoot – Love and Maple Syrup (requested)
  30. The Land that Time Forgot radio ad
  31. Radiohead – The Daily Mail
  32. Laura Carbone – Grace
  33. Khruangbin – Christmas Time Is Here

I’ll be back on air at midnight (EST) on Christmas Eve.  I hope you’ll tune in for plenty of good music.

Keep your mind open.

[A subscription would be a great gift.]

Live: Flasher, Public Practice, and Gong Gong Gong – Dec. 4th – The Hideout – Chicago, IL

As soon as I saw Flasher, Public Practice, and Gong Gong Gong were playing at Chicago’s Hideout (a great small venue with an appropriate name, as it is concealed in an industrial area), I knew it was going to be a good show.  All three are creating post-punk rock that’s clever, timely, and powerful.

Gong Gong Gong

Gong Gong Gong opened the show, and you could immediately tell there was a buzz about them in the crowd.  I met one woman who specifically came to see them because she’d read a write-up about them in the Chicago Reader and wanted to hear these two guys from Beijing who didn’t have or need a drummer. They don’t need one because there’s enough percussion between the guitar and bass riffs to support an industrial band.  It was a fascinating set full of songs that sound like they belong in a David Lynch film.  I’m calling it now – Look for Gong Gong Gong to be on the bill for the 2019 Pitchfork Music Festival.

Public Practice

Public Practice came out and gave everyone a lesson on how you own a stage.  They played their entire Distance Is a Mirror EP (one of the best releases of the year, in my opinion) and a couple tracks I hadn’t heard yet.  They left you hungry for more, much more.  I hope this tour gives them plenty of ideas for new tracks.  I was delighted to see them selling WALL records at their table, too.  Everyone needs WALL records.

Flasher

Flasher threw down an energetic set that warmed you up from the chill outside.  The tracks they played off their great debut, Constant Image, were almost double speed.  They weren’t screwing around up there.  It was definitely the most punk of the three post-punk sets.  Unfortunately for my wife and I, we had to leave early during their set due to a long drive home and a predicted storm of freezing rain heading for our route.  As you might’ve guessed from reading this, we made it home safe.

As I figured, this was / is a great lineup for a tour.  Don’t miss it if it comes near you.

Keep your mind open.

[If you wondering what to get me for Christmas, I always like subscriptions to my blog.]

 

 

The Beths release their version of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” just in time for the holidays.

The Beths Release “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” 7-Inch
Via Carpark Records
Listen Here

February/March North American Tour On Sale Now


[Photo by Mason Fairey]
The Beths’ Future Me Hates Me is “one of the most impressive indie-rock debuts of the year” (Pitchfork). Its first 3 pressings sold out only 2 months after release and have tallied over 1.5 million Spotify streams. Stereogum recently named The Beths one of the “40 Best New Bands Of 2018” and Rolling Stone is currently featuring them in their Hot Issue. While Paste has designated Future Me Hates Me one of “The 50 Best Albums of 2018.”

To celebrate a banner year, The Beths are releasing a 7-inch featuring a moving rendition of “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” via Carpark Records. Recorded in three separate continents on their first proper world headline tour, The Beths ditch the usual uptempo, guitar-driven numbers, for a slow-building serenade propelled by strings. The B-side, only available on the physical 7-inch, features a special demo version of Future Me Hates Me favorite “Happy Unhappy.” All profits from the 7-inch go toGirls Rock Camp Foundation.

Having recently completed a North American tour this fall selling out Seattle, Chicago, Boston, New York City (x2), Philadelphia and Washington, DC, The Beths will return in February and March to headline their biggest shows yet including Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, First Unitarian Church in Philadelphia and Lincoln Hall in Chicago.  A full list of dates is below and tickets are on sale now.

Stream “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”:
http://smarturl.it/thebeths_christmas
The Beths Tour Dates:
Fri. Dec. 14 – Wellington, NZ @ Meow (tickets)
Sat. Dec. 15 – Warkworth Town District, NZ @ Leigh Sawmill Café (tickets)
Wed. Dec. 19 – Sydney, AUS @ Lansdowne Hotel (tickets)
Thu. Dec. 20 – Northcote, AUS @ Northcote Social Club (tickets)
Sat. Dec. 22 – Fortitude Valley, AUS @ Black Bear Lodge (tickets)
Wed. Jan. 23 – Dublin, IE @ The Grand Social (tickets)
Thu. Jan. 24 – Dublin, IE @ Olympia Theatre (w/ Death Cab for Cutie) (tickets)
Fri. Jan. 25 – Manchester, UK @ Albert Hall (w/ Death Cab for Cutie) (SOLD OUT)
Sat. Jan. 26 – Glasgow, UK @ O2 Academy Glasgow (w/ Death Cab for Cutie) (tickets)
Mon. Jan. 28 – Nottingham, UK @ Rock City (w/ Death Cab for Cutie) (tickets)
Tue. Jan. 29 – Leeds, UK @ O2 Academy Leeds (w/ Death Cab for Cutie) (tickets)
Wed. Jan. 30 – Bristol, UK @ O2 Academy Bristol (w/ Death Cab for Cutie) (tickets)
Thu. Jan. 31 – London, UK @ Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen (tickets)
Fri. Feb. 1 – London, UK @ Eventim Apollo (w/ Death Cab for Cutie) (tickets)
Sat. Feb. 2 – Paris, FR @ Le Trianon (w/ Death Cab for Cutie) (tickets)
Sun. Feb. 3 – Antwerp, BE @ De Roma (w/ Death Cab for Cutie) (tickets)
Tue. Feb. 5 – Utrecht, NL @ TivoliVrendenburg, Grote Zaal (w/ Death Cab for Cutie) (tickets)
Wed. Feb. 6 – Cologne, DE @ Live Music Hall (w/ Death Cab for Cutie) (tickets)
Thu. Feb. 7 – Berlin, DE @ Astra Kulturhaus (w/ Death Cab for Cutie) (tickets)
Sat. Feb. 9 – Hamburg, DE @ Große Freiheit 36 (w/ Death Cab for Cutie) (SOLD OUT)
Sun. Feb. 10 – Copenhagen, DK @ VEGA Musikkens Hus – Store Vega (Main Hall) (tickets)
Mon. Feb. 11 – Stockholm, SE @ Cirkus (w/ Death Cab for Cutie) (tickets)
Tue. Feb. 12 – Oslo, NO @ Sentrum Scene (w/ Death Cab for Cutie) (tickets)
Thu. Feb. 21-Sun. Feb. 24 – Orere Point, NZ @ Splore 2019 (tickets)
Tue. Feb. 26 – Toronto, ON @ The Garrison (w/ Bad Bad Hats) (tickets)
Wed. Feb. 27 – Montreal, QC @ Casa Del Popolo (w/ Bad Bad Hats) (tickets)
Thu. Feb. 28 – Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall (w/ Bad Bad Hats) (tickets)
Fri. Mar. 1 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg (w/ Bad Bad Hats) (tickets)
Sat. Mar. 2 – Washington, DC @ Union Stage (w/ Bad Bad Hats) (tickets)
Sun. Mar. 3 – Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church (w/ Bad Bad Hats) (tickets)
Tue. Mar. 5 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom (w/ Bad Bad Hats) (tickets)
Wed. Mar. 6 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall (w/ Bad Bad Hats) (tickets)
Thu. Mar. 7 – Nashville, TN @ The Basement (w/ Bad Bad Hats) (tickets)
Fri. Mar. 8 – Atlanta, GA @ The Earl (w/ Bad Bad Hats) (tickets)
Sat. Mar. 9 – Savannah, GA @ Savannah Stopover (w/ Bad Bad Hats) (tickets)
Mon. Mar. 11-Fri. Mar. 15 – Austin, TX @ SXSW (w/ Bad Bad Hats)
Sat. Mar. 16 – Dallas, TX @ Not So Fun Wknd (w/ Bad Bad Hats)  
Sun. Mar. 17 – Houston, TX @ Satellite Bar (w/ Bad Bad Hats) (tickets)
Thur. May. 16 – London, UK @ The Dome (tickets)

[“Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” 7-inch]
Keep your mind open.
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